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The Golden Girls article
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A Little Romance is the thirteenth episode of The Golden Girls and the thirteenth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Mort Nathan and Barry Fanaro, the episode premiered on NBC-TV on December 14th, 1985.
Summary[]
Rose dates Jonathan, a psychiatrist at the grief counseling center, but is reluctant to introduce him to her friends. Blanche invites him over for dinner against Rose's wishes, and they find out he is a little person. When he tells Rose he has something important to discuss, she thinks he is planning to propose to her and is conflicted about whether to accept.
Plot[]
Sophia is packing to visit her son Phil's family in Brooklyn, as her grandson is graduating from animal grooming school. She is filling her one suitcase with pasta sauce, complaining to Dorothy that Phil's wife Angela doesn't cook. Dorothy reminds her that Angela doesn't cook because she has a job, and Sophia exclaims that she's a welder. Blanche announces that she's begun volunteering as a CPR dummy to get dates. Rose appears all dressed up for another date with her boyfriend, Dr. Jonathan Newman from the counselling center, and while she is clearly excited she doesn't tell the ladies everything, offering instead to take Sophia to the airport.
The next night, Blanche surprises Rose by inviting Jonathan over for dinner, much to Rose's annoyance, and passes it off as thanking him for helping decode her recurring dreams. When Dorothy goes to answer the door, she is greeted by a little person who introduces himself as Dr. Jonathan Newman. Though Dorothy quickly gets over her shock, Blanche believes that Rose called Jonathan over as a joke to get back at her for dinner. Upon learning she's made a mistake, Blanche retreats to the kitchen in embarrassment. Dorothy tells her to be less self-conscious for the sake of the dinner, and Blanche tries to put a stiff upper lip in the name of Southern hospitality. She then immediately puts her foot in her mouth by serving shrimp as an appetizer.
After the dinner, Jonathan helps Blanche understand that he's okay with people making mistakes he's happy with who he is. However while he and Rose go back to the lanai, Sophia arrives early and reveals her grandson flunked out of school. Dorothy assumes the worst when Jonathan and Rose come back from the lanai. But in an uncharacteristic display of politeness, Sophia introduces herself to Jonathan and asks him to excuse her not staying, as she's rather tired and would like to lay down. Dorothy takes Sophia's luggage back to her room with her, and Sophia asks if Jonathan is a little person when they're out of earshot. Dorothy replies that he is, and Sophia is relieved as she was worried she was having another stroke.
When Jonathan leaves, Rose tells the girls she thinks he's going to propose, but she doesn't know what to do due to their difference in height. With her friends' advice leaving her more confused than ever, Rose decides to sleep on it. She has a dream where she is woken up on the day of her and Jonathan's wedding, with Sophia officiating the ceremony. Despite being minutes away from matrimony and dressed up in her wedding gown, Rose is still unsure of what to do. To convince Rose to get up, the ladies reveal her father, who has become a little person. Rose's father tells her that he's only come as a little person to prove a point -- only Rose's heart can tell her what to do. The ladies try to get psychic Jeane Dixon to help, but she is useless as they are. Jonathan then arrives, and convinces her that love will help them no matter what.
Rose and Jonathan arrive for their date at a French restaurant -- instead of proposing, however, Jonathan admits he's breaking up with her. Rose tries to convince Jonathan that she wouldn't be ashamed of marrying him, but Jonathan reveals that he comes from a very conservative Jewish family, and he can't see someone who isn't Jewish. Rose is extremely upset, but after she and Jonathan make each other laugh, they agree to remain friends.[1]
Tall Tales[]
Tales from the Old South[]
Blanche recounts the tale of how a Southern faux pas led her parents to forbid her from attending her senior prom with a boy named Benjamin. When Dorothy laments about how the two were nearly kept apart due to Benjamin's race, Blanche replies that Benjamin wasn't black -- he was from New Jersey.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak
- Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux
- Betty White as Rose Nylund
- Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo
Guest List[]
- Brent Collins as Dr. Jonathan Newman
- Billy Barty as Gunter Lindstrom
- Jeane Dixon as Herself
- Tony Carreiro as Waiter
Notes[]
- Brent Collins, who played Dr. Jonathan Newman, died two years after this episode first aired. The cause of death was a heart attack as a complication of Marfan syndrome coupled with his dwarfism.
- This episode is Betty White's favorite of the entire series. White said that despite the fact that "every 'short' joke in the book" was used, none of the humor was truly hurtful.
- With Princess Diana's death in 1997, former First Lady Jackie Kennedy's death in 1994, and Senator Ted Kennedy's death in 2009, none of the predictions that Jeane Dixon made in Rose's dream came true.
Production[]
- The episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.
- In the dream sequence in Rose's bedroom, Blanche's line is cut after Dorothy speaks and before Sophia comes out of the closet dressed like a priest.
- Tony Carreiro, who plays the waiter in the restaurant, returns later in the season to reprise his role as another waiter. He returns once more in "72 Hours" as Rose's doctor.[2]
[]
References[]
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 13, “A Little Romance”. Fanaro, Barry and Nathan, Mort (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (December 14th, 1885)
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 5, Episode 19, "72 Hours". Gamble, Tracy and Vazcy, Richard (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 17th, 1990)